


Of trust and hope

by VathySkotadi



Series: Non-Magic HomuSaya stuff. [4]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Nervousness, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26591797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VathySkotadi/pseuds/VathySkotadi
Summary: Sayaka and Homura are a couple. And they don't want to hide it forever. That, of course, means telling the people important to them. How will this work out for them?
Relationships: Akemi Homura/Miki Sayaka
Series: Non-Magic HomuSaya stuff. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934377
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Of trust and hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [XxChronOblivionxX](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxChronOblivionxX/gifts).



Sayaka looked into Homura’s eyes, trying to smile encouragingly.

“We can do this,” she said.

Homura nodded.

“There’s no need to panic,” Sayaka said as she patted Homura’s shoulder. “They’re our friends. And Kyoko already knows anyways.”

Again, Homura nodded.

“Plus, what reason would they have to not accept it? It’s stupid. It’s not like dating each other changes anything about…” Sayaka paused, realizing Homura’s eyebrows had lifted a bit. Almost imperceptibly so, but given her usually stoic face, it was noticeable. “I’m sorry.”

“You seemed far more confident about this earlier today,” Homura said, looking at the door besides them. Behind it, their friends waited patiently for them. “We can come up with something else to tell them, should you feel uncomfortable about this.”

“No, no.” Sayaka took a deep breath. “I’m just a bit nervous.” That was an understatement. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like her heart was going to jump ship and abandon her. “What about you?”

“I can’t deny I’m nervous too,” Homura said. Of course, that was almost impossible to tell. “But… I also know it’ll be fine.”

Sayaka nodded, slowly at first, but with more strength the more confident she grew. To be fair, it was easy to feel confident with Homura by her side. As stable as a rock, she took things in stride and didn’t seem to be affected by them. Despite knowing she was far more complex than that, Sayaka couldn’t help but draw from her seeming calmness to quell her own turmoil.

 _Come on, let’s do this,_ she thought, turning and facing the door. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are,” Homura said. She brushed Sayaka’s hand lightly, but that brush was enough. Taking the burst of confidence it gave her, Sayaka exited into the roof of their school and looked at her friends. Madoka, Kyoko and Mami were chatting softly with each other, but they hushed as Sayaka and Homura stepped closer to them.

“My,” Mami said, tilting her head with worry. “You both are looking awfully pale. Are you alright?”

Sayaka chuckled nervously. “Y-yeah, just-” she paused, taking a deep breath. “It’s ok. We’re fine.”

Next to her, Homura nodded.

Kyoko was smirking. She probably guessed what this was all about. Mami still looked worried, while Madoka had a fairly neutral smile on her face that was only slightly unnerving. Sayaka wished she looked a bit more serious.

 _They’re your friends, they’ll be ok with it,_ she had to keep reminding herself. She was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. _But what if they don’t? No, don’t think about it. It’ll be fine._

It had to be.

“Homura and I, we’re… going out together,” Sayaka said with eyes closed. She didn’t want to see her friends reactions, just in case they were negative.

But when Kyoko laughed, she opened them to see that none of them looked disgusted or too confused. Mami was, in fact, nodding approvingly. “Then something _did_ happen in that closet, didn’t it?”

Sayaka looked at Homura for a moment. The black haired girl had her lips pressed, but she slowly began to let it go in favor of a more relaxed poker face, which might as well be a smile in that situation. She was blushing, too. “Yes, though that’s something we’ll keep between ourselves.”

Her friends smiled.

Sayaka felt the pressure in her chest slowly let up, like a balloon deflating. Her muscles relaxed and she no longer felt the need to fidget, though some underlying tension remained.

Mami leaned forward from the bench she was sitting on, with a smile on her face. “Seriously, now, what is it that you like of each other?”

Sayaka was a bit taken aback by the question, but it seemed to catch Kyoko’s and Madoka’s attention too, for they suddenly perked up. “Well…” she tried to think of an answer.

Her girlfriend beat her to it. “It’s not something that I can easily summarize in words,” she said. While she was using her normal monotone, Sayaka noticed the hint of a smile on her lips.

“That’s really corny,” Kyoko faked a gagging motion.

“I think it’s sweet,” Sayaka said, reaching and taking Homura’s hand. Homura froze at the touch. “O-oh, sorry.”

She tried to let go, but Homura closed her fingers, holding on. “N-no, it’s ok,” she said, looking down.

“Ugh, get a room,” Kyoko rolled her eyes. Sayaka didn’t let that bother her.

“Ok, does this mean you’ll stop hanging out with us?” Madoka asked.

“Of course not,” Sayaka smiled. “We may find excuses to be alone, though.”

“And do what, exactly?” Mami asked with innuendo and wiggling her eyebrows.

“Shut up,” Sayaka said, giving her a glare.

Mami chuckled. Kyoko laughed. Even Madoka smiled.

Sayaka shook her head, but the little squeeze Homura gave her hand told her that it was fine.

Well, at least their friends had taken the news well.

Homura and Sayaka walked side by side as they made their way home after school. The air was a bit chiller than Homura liked it, but being with Sayaka gave her all the warmth she needed. Their friends walked a few steps ahead of them, chatting among themselves. Two weeks had passed since they had come out to them, and the novelty of the situation had expired. It still surprised Homura how their friends treated them… well, normally.

Even beyond being gay: They were still two people inside their group of friends who were dating each other. Coming out to them had been the right decision, of course, but Homura had expected them to be more teasing about it. Kyoko sometimes rolled her eyes at them, and Mami seemed to enjoy making a snarky remark here and there, but it wasn’t something too common.

It made Homura consider…

“Hey, what’s on your mind?” Sayaka asked her.

“Nothing,” Homura’s reply was instantaneous and automatic. She didn’t even consider what she was saying until it was too late, and she instantly regretted it.

“Come on,” Sayaka nudged her. “You can tell me, I know how you get when you’re thinking about serious stuff. I think.”

Homura faced her. Sayaka’s playful smile and attentive eyes made her feel even guiltier for reacting so automatically. “Sorry, I just… I was thinking about…” she felt her chest tighten a little. “Coming out. And stuff.”

Sayaka lifted her eyebrows. “Did something happen? Or do you feel bad about not telling your family?”

Homura paused. “Uhm, yeah…” she looked away. “It’s not so much my family that worries me, though. It’s yours.”

If Sayaka noticed the strange way Homura had reacted, she didn’t comment on it. “Well, I don’t actually talk too much with my parents,” Sayaka shrugged. “They’re always working and stuff. I’m not sure how they’d react, but I somehow suspect they’d be dismissive and then they’d go back to work or something.”

The answer caught Homura off-guard. It wasn’t so much Sayaka’s family situation, though, but how she spoke about it so casually. “They probably just want to provide for you,” Homura tried to say.

Sayaka chuckled. “Well, that’s probably part of it, but it’s nice of you to think that. What about your parents?”

Homura pressed her lips. Her parents. Yeah… “Well, I don’t think they’d mind too much,” she wasn’t technically lying.

“Then… do you wanna come out to our parents?”

“Not right now, but… yes.”

Sayaka looked around. There were a bunch of students around them, so instead of doing anything overt, she simply bumped Homura playfully and smiled. “I’ll have to ask my parents to spare some free time for a talk. You wanna be there when I tell them?”

“Of course,” Homura said without hesitation. “Just in case things go wrong.”

“I’d like to kiss you,” Sayaka spoke in a lower voice. “Because that was really cute of you.”

A familiar heat crawled up Homura’s cheeks. “Point is, I’ll be there, just ask me to.”

Sayaka hummed. “I should tell Kyousuke and Hitomi, too.”

Homura felt a bit of worry. She knew Sayaka had some harsh history with them. “If you think you’re ready, then I’ll be there too,” she offered.

Sayaka grinned. “And I wanna be there too, when you tell your family.”

“Y-yeah,” Homura nodded. “Of course.”

“You sounded uncertain. Is something the matter?”

“No, just… well, I need to figure some stuff out first,” Homura deflected.

Sayaka’s eyes narrowed. Homura feared she was going to push for more, but maybe she felt Homura’s reluctance, for she let it go. “Ok, then I’ll wait.”

“Hey, you two, stop flirting and come listen to this,” Kyoko turned to them.

Homura and Sayaka exchanged a look. “We’ll talk about it later, then?” Sayaka asked.

“I suppose,” Homura said and nodded.

She held back the need to scream as she walked to join her friends.

“Are you sure you want to do this now?” Homura asked Sayaka.

“Well, they’re also close friends of mine, and I’m sure they’ll understand,” she said.

Inside a small ice-cream shop far from school—to avoid uninvited spectators, a couple of Sayaka’s friends waited for them. Kyousuke and Hitomi were chatting and one of them laughed, though it wasn’t something they could hear. The shop wasn’t too full, luckily.

“Let’s just go,” Sayaka said. After the success with coming out to her other friends, she’d figured they also deserved to know. Sayaka had been reluctant to do this, since things had been a bit awkward since they’d begun dating. But now she’d moved past that, and she’d found someone else. Plus, they were her oldest friends.

Homura followed her into the shop. The grey haired Kyousuke looked up with a smile, and Hitomi, next to him, turned at that. The both of them smiled as Sayaka and Homura sat at their table.

“So this is your date, huh?” Kyousuke asked, pointing at Homura.

“Yes,” Sayaka nodded. She was nervous enough to get a bit dizzy.

“Akemi, right?” Hitomi offered.

“Yes,” Homura nodded. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Same,” Kyousuke bowed in his seat and offered Homura a hand. “I’m glad to properly meet the person who makes Sayaka smile.”

This actually got a reaction out of Homura, who blushed a bit as she took Kyousuke’s hand.

“You guys are… surprisingly ok with this,” Sayaka said with more confusion than she’d intended.

“Well, we’d noticed you were feeling down, but a while ago you began to… glow, again,” Hitomi explained. “What does it matter who you like? If she makes you happy, then there’s nothing strange about it.”

Sayaka slumped on her chair. “Man, I was worried over nothing.”

“Now, before you go ask for ice-creams,” Kyousuke leaned forward, looking very seriously at Sayaka. “How exactly did you two get together?”

Of course they’d ask that. “Do you… really want to know?” She asked.

“We’re curious,” Hitomi shrugged.

Sayaka looked at Homura, who shrugged and nodded. If she was ok with telling them the story… “Well, we were studying, and Kyoko—our redhead friend—ate the last potato…”

Sayaka ate her food silently. Her mother, sitting in front of her, was examining a little piece of steak held on her fork. Her father, to her right, ate while reading something on his phone.

It normally wasn’t _this_ silent—her parents asked her how she was doing and stuff, and talked about work or other menial things—but today Sayaka had been especially nervous. A knot had formed in her throat and it was hard to get words out. Homura had come over today, and they’d had such fun… Sayaka decided it was about time.

She was going to ask them if she could invite Homura over, but she wasn’t sure of how to approach it. Say she was bringing a partner? Then they’d assume it was a boy and they’d build the wrong expectations. Say she was bringing a friend? Same problem.

Of course, there was always the option of saying she wanted to bring Homura, as a person, and not specify her relationship with her. But then they’d ask if she was a friend, probably.

Why was it so hard? Well, it was obvious. She didn’t really know if her parents would be ok with it. They were nice enough, but they were also distant. Sayaka could do basically whatever she wanted, assuming she didn’t get into trouble. But that also meant she had no point of reference. She hadn’t ever heard her parents make comments on this, one way or another.

But this worry wouldn’t get her anywhere.

“Mom? Dad?” Sayaka asked. Her mother raised an eyebrow, while her father lifted his eyes from the phone. “Uhm… when’s the next time you’ll be home kinda early? The two of you, I mean.”

They exchanged a look. “In… about two weeks, maybe?” Her mother said first.

“Yes, I think two Fridays from now. That’s when we’d planned to all cook together, I believe,” her father added.

“Why?” Her mother asked.

Sayaka paused. Now or never. “I wanna bring a… friend over,” she explained.

Her father’s eyes widened, while her mother cocked her head. “Well, you know Hitomi and Kyousuke are always welcome,” she said.

“Mom, I wouldn’t be asking if it was them. I meant someone else.”

Her father gave her a skeptical look. “Is this someone actually a friend?”

She shrugged weakly. “It’s someone… important to me,” she said, praying to every god that may listen to her to stop them from asking for further details.

“Well, if it’s that important, then maybe we can take a day off for us to meet this person,” her mother said.

“No!” Sayaka needed all the time to prepare mentally she could get. “No, it’s ok. It’s just a couple weeks, not a big deal. Are you ok with it then?”

“Of course,” her mother nodded. “But maybe we’ll order food instead of cooking ourselves. We’ve got to treat our guests nicely.”

“Nonsense, whoever it is will surely enjoy the Miki family cooking,” her father said in a dismissive tone.

Her parents began to lightly banter over the food, and Sayaka slumped on her chair, both relieved and nervous.

First step: Complete. Now all that was left was getting them to accept the fact that their daughter was bisexual. Assuming they cared. Maybe they didn’t. Sayaka would like that. To just have her parents shrug and laugh and say ‘it’s ok, you can love who you want’.

For now, at least, she preferred to not entertain the alternatives.

“What did you want to talk about?” Sayaka asked. They were sitting in the small ice-cream shop far from school, the one they’d used to come out to Kyousuke and Hitomi. It was a train ride away from school, and it was perfect, since Homura had said she wanted to be away from everything. She looked awfully serious—well, she always did, but today there was also a downcast air about her. She walked slower, spoke with even more reluctance than usual, refused to meet Sayaka’s eyes half the time.

While Sayaka had worried this was gonna be a breakup at first, she also knew that was stupid. Homura didn’t look like someone who wanted to break up, but rather like someone who was about to reveal they had some chronic illness.

Wait, didn’t she have heart issues? Maybe…

“Sayaka, I… don’t think I’ll be able to come out to my parents.” Homura said after a minute of silence.

“Oh. Are you scared they’ll be disappointed? That’s alright,” Sayaka reached across the table to put a hand on Homura’s shoulder.

“No,” Homura looked up and shifted out of the way of the hand. Sayaka was a bit hurt. Homura’s purple eyes looked so serious… “I don’t… I don’t have anyone to disappoint.”

Sayaka blinked.

Her confusion was evidently obvious in her face, for Homura continued without waiting for a reply. “I’m an orphan. I grew up without parents. At an orphanage.”

“Wait,” Sayaka said, her kneejerk reaction being to raise a hand and make Homura pause. “You’re… an orphan? How come I’m only hearing about this now?”

“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner,” Homura looked down, ashamed.

But Sayaka was the one that felt ashamed. She looked at Homura. Of course, a lot of things made sense now. “You must have had it tough,” Sayaka said. “Homu, I’m _so_ sorry about not knowing.”

“Don’t be. You had no way to.”

“I’m your girlfriend, I should know these things,” Sayaka leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “My god, all of my comments about coming out to our families and parents… What was I thinking? How did I not notice?”

To her surprise, Homura suddenly reached across the table and took her free hand. “Don’t,” she ordered, now looking angry. “It’s all on me. I didn’t tell anyone. You had _no_ way of knowing, got it?”

The intensity of her words, mixed with how strongly she was holding onto her hand, made Homura’s order hit harder than it would otherwise have. It didn’t really stop Sayaka from feeling guilty, but she realized she’d only make Homura feel bad if she blamed herself like this.

She sucked it up and moved her hand so that she was holding Homura’s properly. “Ok, ok,” she said, nodding. “I get it. I’m still sorry for all the comments I made.”

“It’s ok,” Homura smiled weakly. “I… I should’ve told you.”

“I’m sure you had a good reason not to.”

Homura paused. “Yeah, it’s not something I like to talk about.”

“Then don’t. When you’re ready we’ll do it. Until then, we can just come out to my parents and see how that goes,” Sayaka offered her warmest smile.

She noticed a few people in the shop had turned to look at the two strange girls being too noisy. She pretended not to, but it did make her a bit self conscious. It was a good thing they’d come so far from school.

Homura examined Sayaka’s expression. Maybe she was looking for something off, but whatever it was, she ended up smiling a bit more and nodded. “We’ll… focus on that. I’ll tell you that other stuff one day, I promise.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Sayaka squeezed Homura’s hand. “Now, maybe we should eat our ice-creams. I feel like these things melting while we talk is gonna become a staple for us.”

Homura let go of Sayaka’s hand and looked at her own. “Yeah, we should,” she licked it. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Sayaka smiled and proceeded to clean her hand with her tongue. They really needed to start asking for bowls.

Homura knew, from moment one, something was off.

When Sayaka’s parents opened the door that day, she was met with surprise from the mother and confusion from the father.

“H-hello,” Homura said, bowing. “A-Akemi Homura. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The adults met eyes before turning and waving Homura in. “Welcome to the Miki residence, Akemi. I’m Naoki, and this is my wife, Eiko” the man said. He was half a head taller than Homura, and had the look of a perfect businessman. He wore glasses, had a perfectly neat haircut and wore a suit.

Eiko, on the other hand, was very similar to her daughter, though older and with a longer face.

The two of them looked at Homura with those mixed expressions and led her to the living room, where she and Sayaka had spent that afternoon a couple weeks ago. Sayaka was there, waiting for her, red-faced and with her hands tucked between her legs in nervousness.

Homura sat next to her, while Sayaka’s parents sat on a pair of couches on the other side of the table. Sayaka threw a nervous glance at Homura before looking forward. “S-so, this here is Homura- though you already knew, heh…”

Homura nodded, bowing slightly again. Her heart was pounding. Hard. What if these two people didn’t like her? What if they didn’t accept that their daughter liked girls? If they grew to hate their own daughter? Well, then Sayaka could come live with her. Homura had enough money to take care of them both, for now. If need be, she’d sell some of her stuff to help and-

“So, Akemi was the important person you wanted us to meet,” Eiko said. “I won’t lie, I was expecting… something different.”

“A boy,” Naoki said without holding back.

Homura tried to read their expressions, but they hadn’t changed. Confused or surprised, at least their reaction hadn’t been a necessarily negative one.

“Yeah. You spoke as if it was your boyfriend,” Eiko chuckled.

Sayaka took a deep breath, releasing her hands from between her legs. Then she reached for Homura’s hand. Homura went stiff. _Don’t worry. It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine…_ but the feeling of void sucking up her insides was still there. For a moment, for a single second, she was glad not to have parents of her own. At least she’d never have to go through something like this, which she was certain was tenfold for Sayaka.

Beautiful Sayaka. Scared, but determined. Her hand was sweaty, and her voice trembled only slightly as she spoke. “Well, you’re- you’re not exactly wrong,” she dared. Her mother’s smile fell off her face, and her father seemed to realize where this was going, letting go of his confusion and raising an eyebrow with skepticism. “She’s… Homura is my girlfriend.”

Sayaka’s parents eyed them both, maybe trying to see if this was some sort of prank. It must have been obvious in their worried expressions—yes, even Homura couldn’t hold back _this_ much tension—that it wasn’t.

“I-I don’t understand. I was sure you had a crush on Kyousuke…” Eiko said, confused. Naoki said nothing, simply staring with those skeptical eyes.

Homura looked at Sayaka. Should she say something? Sayaka gulped; her lips were parted as they did after they both were tired from too much kissing. “You’re right. But I’m dating Homura now.”

While her mom still seemed unable to fully process it, her dad leaned forward on the couch, resting on his knees. His stare was nailed to Homura, but she was wholly unable to read if he was angry or curious or… anything. She was too nervous.

Sayaka squeezed her hand. It helped a lot.

“How long have you two been dating?” he asked, clearly to Homura.

“Uhm…” Homura’s mind was blank, but she somehow came up with an estimate. “Almost two months, at this point?”

“Two of the happiest months of my life,” Sayaka was quick to add.

Homura eyed her. She would’ve smiled if she wasn’t feeling like a mouse trapped in a cage with a hungry snake.

While Eiko looked thoughtful, Naoki leaned back and slowly nodded to himself. “Well,” he closed his eyes. “I suppose it’s not too uncommon for people of your age to date someone of their same gender nowadays.”

Sayaka’s grip on Homura’s hands tightened. “S-so you’re ok with it…?”

Then he opened his eyes and with a weak smile he stood. “Well, guess I’ll have to decide over dinner. Akemi, do you want to help us cook?”

Homura made meatballs.

She picked up some of the grinded meat mixed with spices, pressed her hands together, and tried not to think of how Eiko was standing next to her, doing the same. She also tried not to feel too bad about how irregular the size of her meatballs was—she could cook, it was just kinda hard to focus. To the side, Sayaka cut vegetables, while behind them, Naoki was preparing the base of the stew.

“S-so, Akemi,” Eiko said. “When did you… uhm… find out you were, you know…?”

Homura could tell where this was going. “Gay?” She asked, trying to keep her composure. At least Sayaka’s mother was trying to understand.

“Yeah…” Eiko looked so uncomfortable it almost made Homura want to pat her back or something. Was she forcing herself to try to accept this? Was it an act?

“Honey, that’s probably an inappropriate question,” Naoki interrupted.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Homura said, deciding it was better to try and get along for now. These were her girlfriend’s parents. She needed to get to know them properly. “I… don’t really know. I’ve never liked a boy, and it wasn’t too hard to figure out I liked girls, so…”

“O-oh, that’s great. But, have you considered that maybe you, uhm…”

Homura saw, from the corner of her eyes, Sayaka pause. She hoped she wouldn’t interrupt—this was part of the process.

“… haven’t found the right boy yet?” Eiko finished.

She looked earnest. Homura considered her answer for a few seconds, and realized this conversation may be easier than she’d first expected.

“Well, you may be right,” She said, feeling a bit more confident. “But whether the possibility is there or not is irrelevant. I am in love with your daughter as of now, and I don’t think that’s gonna change.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Sayaka turn and flash her a smile.

“But you can’t be sure,” Eiko insisted.

Homura turned to eye her. “Can you be sure you’ll love your husband forever?”

“Well, we’re married, it’s different.”

“Hmm… Then I guess all I need to do is marry your daughter,” Homura looked at the meat again and thanked the gods her voice hadn’t trembled when saying that. She fought against the furious blush that was about to overtake her.

Eiko didn’t reply to that, looking stunned by the direct answer. Sayaka was now full-on grinning towards Homura.

Naoki laughed softly. “Well, she’s certainly confident,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess she is…” Sayaka replied. There was pride in her voice, which brought a small smile out of Homura. “Ouch!” she suddenly yelped.

Homura dropped the meatball she had in her hands and instantly jumped towards Sayaka. “Are you ok?” she asked, noticing with worry how Sayaka was holding her hand.

Sayaka nodded, holding up the finger that now had a red line on it. “It’s superficial, don’t worry.”

Homura looked at it. It wasn’t too bad, but… “I’d help you, but my hands are kinda dirty.” She held up her meatball-stained hands.

“It’s fine,” Sayaka smiled.

“Too distracted looking at your girlfriend, were you?” Her father teased. “Come on, go clean yourself and grab a band-aid, I’ll finish cutting these.”

Sayaka paused, eyes darting between her parents and Homura.

Homura gave her an encouraging nod. She was starting to better understand how to speak to them, and so had grown a bit more confident that they wouldn’t try to kick her out as soon as they were alone with her.

Sayaka pressed her lips. “Alright, be right back,” she turned and went towards the bathroom.

Homura turned back to her meatballs. Hopefully it’d be ok.

It was ok.

Homura sat, eating her meatballs and vegetables—which were delicious—and feeling extremely at ease, opposite to how she felt when they first arrived.

While Sayaka’s mom was still a bit hesitant, she was now smiling, clearly more comfortable with the situation. The idea had stopped being so alien to her. Maybe the food was softening her up. “So, Akemi-” Sayaka’s father began.

“P-please call me Homura,” Homura said.

“Ok. Homura, how did you two get together, exactly?”

“Dad!” Sayaka said. She was sitting next to Homura.

“W-well, I confessed and we kissed. And we’re here now.” It was surprising. The man that at first had seemed so cold and menacing to her was now someone who managed to get Homura to talk so freely. He _was_ related to Sayaka, wasn’t he?

“Fairly standard affair, huh,” he said, sounding somewhat bored. “I expected it to be more dramatic.”

Homura and Sayaka exchanged a look and smiled. They didn’t need to know about the closet.

“I can’t say I fully understand, but…” Eiko said. “You’re a grounded and serious person, Ake- Homura. I can appreciate that. I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”

Homura was a bit taken aback. “Don’t worry, miss. I’m glad you didn’t outright reject the idea.”

“Well, Sayaka is still Sayaka, no matter who she likes.” Eiko smiled.

“Though bear in mind,” Naoki added, “I will treat you like I would any other boyfriend. So you take good care of her, got it?”

Homura met his serious eyes—they were of a similar blue to Sayaka’s—and nodded. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

“Geez, cut it out,” Sayaka said, though she was smiling.

It was nice, Homura realized, to have this light banter. It meant all the barriers had dropped—or at least, the most dangerous ones. And that was just what she had hoped.

Under the table, she grabbed Sayaka’s hand. Sayaka froze for a moment, but then relaxed.

“Where’s that hand I’m not seeing?” Naoki instantly picked up on what was going on, but he spoke with such innuendo that it sounded awful.

“Dad!” Sayaka pretended to be angry.

A chuckle came to Homura. It seemed to shock all of them. She looked up to meet their eyes. “Thanks for accepting me,” she said. She hoped she managed to convey how heartfelt that was.

Sayaka squeezed her hand under the table. It was kinda funny, how used she’d grown to the underlying happiness of being with her. But now, with her family also accepting her, it felt raw again.

“You’re a nice girl, Homura,” her mother said. “I hope you and Sayaka can keep your relationship.”

“And even if you don’t, please come by, these meatballs feel like lottery. Some are big, some are small, it’s a fun game!”

Homura felt heat crawl up her cheeks. “S-sorry, I was nervous.”

Sayaka’s dad laughed. Her mother bashed him for it.

Sayaka chuckled.

Even Homura let herself chuckle again.

A few days after coming out to her parents, Sayaka and Homura walked together to school. They’d met up a bit later than the rest of their friends.

Sayaka was beyond happy. Everyone who she cared about had accepted them. She understood how lucky she was because of this. Maybe she was too emboldened, but something drove her to, as they walked, reach over and take Homura’s hand.

What surprised her most was, maybe, that Homura didn’t freeze or even react too much. In fact, she squeezed Sayaka’s hand, accepting it. Was that a smile on her lips?

“You’re not… nervous?” Sayaka asked, curious.

Homura considered for a moment before shaking her head. “I’ve been thinking,” she turned to Sayaka. “Everyone who we care about is ok with this. Maybe others won’t, but… I love you more than I fear what others may think.”

She spoke in her usual monotone, of course. But maybe that was what made it all the more believable. No hesitation, no special feelings. She was just stating things as she saw them.

Sayaka felt her chest swell with affection. “Does this mean we stop, you know, hiding?”

Homura nodded weakly. “I’m not saying we’re gonna kiss in front of everyone or something like that, but… I also don’t want to pretend we’re not a couple.”

Pausing in the middle of the pebbled path to school, Sayaka pulled Homura close and kissed her. Well, it was more of a long peck, but same thing. “There,” she said, smiling. “The deal is settled.”

“I-I just told you I didn’t say we should do this…” Homura was growing red, but she was also smiling.

Some other students going to school had seen them. Sayaka ignored their gazes and kept walking, taking Homura’s hand. “Sorry, I just… I’m happy.”

“I… am, too,” Homura nodded. And if anyone else isn’t ok with us, well… what are they gonna do? Tell our parents?”

Sayaka smirked. The school building was close now. Almost on instinct, she let go of Homura.

But Homura fetched her hand again almost as quickly.

“Are you ready?” Sayaka asked.

“I think I am,” Homura nodded.

Together, they walked into school, their fingers still intertwined.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks XxChronOblivionxX for deciding on asking for more of these two!  
> It's kinda funny, really. Lately I've been dealing with a bunch of different stories about coming out. Seems like the universe is sending me some sort of message...
> 
> If you enjoyed this, and would like to see _some more of it_ , consider _checking out_ my twitter or contacting me through Discord!  
> -Twitter: @BillErak (95% of this account is retweets of shitposting or gay stuff, check pinned tweet)  
> -Discord Tag: VathýSkotádi#1696  
> I'd really appreciate the _support!_


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